“Kinship”
SCRIPTURE
How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life forevermore.
—Psalm 133
DEVOTIONAL
Jesuit priest, founder of Homeboy Industries and the 2023 Willard Lecturer, Greg Boyle, describes the way to experience and live into our kinship with other human beings, specifically the ones who have found themselves on the social, political, economic, and cultural margins. He writes,
No daylight to separate us. Only kinship. Inching ourselves closer to creating a community of kinship such that God might recognize it. Soon we imagine, with God, this circle of compassion. Then we imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased. We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and the readily left out. We stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop. We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.1
-
- How would you define “kinship”?
- What inhibits recognizing our kinship with others?
- How do we begin to create a “community of kinship?”
PRAYER
Lord, you have created us as one. May we live our lives as if we really believe that. Amen.
1 Boyle, Gregory. Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. (New York: Free Press) 2010, 190.
The daily devotionals for the season of Lent are written by Rev. Dr. Kirk Hall, Associate Pastor of Formation at First Presbyterian Church from 2010-2013. He is currently a founding partner at The Metis Project, LLC. and lives with his wife and two girls in Salisbury, Connecticut.